Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 25:27 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor. "
Proverbs 25:27
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
25 Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.
26 Like a muddied spring and a polluted well, so is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.
27 It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor.
28 Like a city that is broken down and without walls is a man whose spirit is without restraint.
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We should be wisely dead to two things. First, we should not live for the pleasures of the senses. It is not good to eat too much honey. Honey is pleasant, and in moderation it is healthy, but too much of it becomes sickening and harmful. In the same way, all the pleasures people chase will eventually leave them full but never truly satisfied, and they are dangerous to those who indulge in them freely.
Second, we should not be greedy for human praise. We should not make it our aim to search out our own glory, to court applause, or to try to make ourselves popular. That is not a person’s honor, but his shame, because people will laugh at such pride. The glory that is sought in this way is not real glory at all, since it is no true honor to a person.
Some understand the verse differently. They take it to mean that, just as eating too much honey is harmful, so it is dangerous to pry too far into lofty and glorious things. Those things may seem sweet to us, but if we try to grasp more than our minds can hold, they can overwhelm us. Others take it this way: you may grow tired of too much honey, but the final glory, the glory of the blessed, is true glory. It will always be fresh, and it will never lose its sweetness.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 25:1
"These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out."
Proverbs 25:2
"It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter."
Proverbs 25:3
"As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable."
Proverbs 25:4
"Take away the dross from the silver, and material comes out for the refiner."
Proverbs 25:5
"Take away the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness."
Proverbs 25:6
"Don’t exalt yourself in the presence of the king, or claim a place among great men;"
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